In Standard 6, Kayla had the idea to let them come up with a song to help them remember what they had been learning in their Social & Environmental Science lessons the past few days. We asked them if they knew what American Idol was and the majority of them raised their hands. We told them we were going to have the first ever ‘YAPPS IDOL’ and they all cheered. We put them into groups, gave them the information they needed to put to music, and then let them get creative. There were 8 groups total and they all seemed to have fun coming up with their songs. We then had each group perform their song, which we recorded. J I’ll have some of the group pictures posted on my Facebook group page & I’ll try to post one of the videos for you to enjoy – they were a lot of fun to watch and it was great to see just how creative some of the groups had been.
Wednesday was a full day. We had the opportunity to attend the graduation ceremony for one of our friends, Mara Mankoma (daughter to Pastor William Mankoma), here in Malawi. She had completed her program last year, but due to issues with the University, they did not hold their yearly graduation ceremony until this year. It was weird to go to a ceremony in the middle of the week and we were told it was going to be long, but we figured it would still be a great experience.
While we did enjoy getting to participate in Mara’s special day, it was definitely a long day. We left our house around 7:45am to get to the ceremony (which we had thought started at 8). The ceremony was being held at the College of Medicine for the University of Malawi & there were 1,600 students graduating. We arrived a little after 8am and began walking to the many tents set-up outside. There were probably around 10 large white tents set up with plastic lawn chairs set up in rows, all facing the main stage area which was decorated with the Malawi colors (red, black & green). We were redirected to enter through another area and it wasn’t until we were walking there that I wondered if Kayla & I would even be allowed in because we didn’t have tickets. Mara’s mother was holding onto what looked like an invitation, but we didn’t know how many people that included. Our entire party included Mara’s parents, her grandmother, a cousin, Pastor Nihaka, Kayla & I. Sure enough, when we got to the entrance (after walking through muddy grass and stepping over some stone steps while being pushed on all sides by everyone else trying to get to the entrance), we saw Pastor William and his wife, Chrissy, talking with the guard and trying to convince him to let us in. Pastor Nihaka, Kayla & I were prepared to sit just outside the entrance on some large stone steps, but then Pastor William called to us and was waving for us to come on through – I think we were snuck into the graduation. J
Now came the fun time of finding seats. Kayla & I just kind of followed Pastor William & sat where they told us. We were seated by 8:30ish and the announcer on the speaker said the program should begin around 9:00. That didn’t happen. The president of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutarika, was attending the ceremony and nothing could begin until he arrived. It was exciting to know that we would get to see the president! However, the wait for everything to begin was a little exhausting. The graduation ceremony didn’t begin until 9:30 with the arrival of the president. Once he arrived, we thought the ceremony may go by pretty quickly… we were wrong. By the time they had announced all the names (well, at least Mara’s group because we left after that), it was already 1:00pm.
As various schools & degrees were called, the graduates would come find their families and leave, so other people would move closer and take vacant seats. We were no different and slowly made our way towards the front of our tent in hopes to see Mara when she was called. It worked! We were only about 4 rows from the front and we waved & cheered as her name was called. Then came the fun of finding her. That didn’t take too long and we were able to get some nice pictures of her and her family and with some fellow graduates. (These should also be posted in my Malawi Facebook group)
We also thought that our day would be done once the pictures were taken, but again, we were mistaken. We met Pastor Nihaka at a gas station close by where he had a car waiting to take us home (or so we thought). Turns out, we were going to try and do lunch with Mara & her family. But, different things kept holding up Pastor William or Mara (she had to wait for her diploma) so we left around 2pm and went to get lunch. I didn’t think to bring any money with me and Kayla only had a little bit, so we ate light, but the Pastor ended up paying for us anyway.
We finally made it home around 3:30. Both of us were a little exhausted from such a long day, but overall, we were very glad to have had the experience.
October 15th is Mother’s Day in Malawi and since it fell on a Saturday this year, they had a public holiday on Monday, October 17th so we had a day off of school. That made for a lovely 3 day weekend for Kayla & I. We had our whole afternoon Saturday & all day Sunday to do with what we pleased – which was very nice. I got some of my class work done for the online course I’m taking; Kayla went for a run and we both got to visit with a friend who was visiting for the weekend.
On Monday, Kayla & I decided to walk to the orphanage, called Yamikani (which means ‘Thanks’ in Chichewa) House. I was very excited to see the kids and get to spend some time with them. One of the girls, Phyllis, met us out front and took us around the back of the house to see the others. It was a little awkward at first because they weren’t expecting us, so I don’t think they knew what to do or why we were there. We met another one of the mothers who helps to care for the children and then we sat on the porch for a bit. They said that there were some volunteers that we could meet & we thought they were just more of the mothers who helped care for the orphans. Much to our surprise, though, 2 ‘Azungu’ (means white, we get called this by all the little children who see us) females coming to meet us! Ashley (from UK) & Charlotte (from Scotland) are both working for an organization called Project Trust. They live in an apartment attached to the orphanage and they teach in the Nursery school that is on the grounds. They have been here since the beginning of September so Kayla & I were a little confused as to why the Pastor & the Chairman for the orphanage hadn’t mentioned them to us before.
After meeting Ashley & Charlotte, we went around the front of the house and saw 2 of the boys that live in the orphanage. We went & sat with them for a while; Kayla had brought some children’s books so we each read one to the boys. I was sitting with Archangel (that’s the boy’s name), who was maybe 2 years old, and he was able to count in English a little bit which was precious! After we read the books, I started asking them how to say some words in Chichewa – they had fun teaching us how to say and spell them & we enjoyed making them laugh as we tried to pronounce them. J
When we left Yamikani House, Ashley & Charlotte walked back with us part of the way home because they were also headed into town. It was interesting to hear their story and Kayla & I are even more thankful for all that we have been blessed with here. We are excited to have some new friends and we hope that as we continue our trips to Yamikani House (though probably not as often since the girls are already there) we will get to know the kids and the teachers better.
As you read above, we hear the word ‘azungu’ a lot, mostly from the children, but sometimes even from the adults that we pass. We have learned to just avoid making eye contact and then people usually don’t talk with us – I slip up with this more often than Kayla though because I like to say hi to people. As we were walking home from Yamikani House on Monday, there was a truck with some men standing in the back that pulled up to the T in the road we were walking on. One of them yelled out ‘Azungu’ & I hollered back ‘Okuda’ (which means black), but they didn’t hear me. Then, one of them yelled, ‘Hey Big Mama!’ and I laughed out loud. I couldn’t help but look & wave at them. They asked us where we were going & I responded in Chichewa that we were going home (they understood me, which means that some of what I’m learning is staying in my brain!). They said something else we couldn’t understand & as they got further away we heard another one say, “Bye, I love you!” which again made us both laugh. One thing is for sure, no matter where we’re headed, our walks will always be interesting. J
Prayers & Praises for the week:
- Continued prayers for Mr. Maniya’s recovery & for his family during this tough time
- It’s a 4 day work week with a holiday next week – woo hoo! Kayla & I hope to go visit some friends in Lilongwe (Malawi’s capital) during our time off
- Wednesday we’re going to extend our visas (they’re only good for 30 days); we didn’t have any trouble last year, but prayers that we have no troubles this time are appreciated!
- We are looking into a possibility to have better internet access while we’re here – it may be cost-prohibitive, but we are excited to check it out
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